190 



COMMON GARP, 



be in proportion to the food they have, for carp 

 are observed to grow a long time, and to come to 

 a very considerable size, and a remarkable weight. 

 I recollect to have seen a carp above a yard long^ 

 and of twentj^-five pounds weight ; but I had no 

 opportunity of ascertaining their real age. In the 

 pond at Charlottenburg, a palace belonging to the 

 King of Prussia, I saw more than two or three 

 hundred carp between two and three feet long ; 

 and I was told by the keeper that they were be- 

 tween fifty and sixty years standing: they were 

 tame, and came to the shore in order to be fed : 

 they swallowed with ease a piece of white bread of 

 the size of half a halfpenny roll. 



During winter, ponds ought to have their full 

 complement of water; for the deeper the water 

 is, the warmer lies the fish. In case the pond be 

 covered with ice, some holes must be made every- 

 day for the admission of fresh air into the pond,, 

 for want of which carp frequently perish. In the 

 .summer observe to clean the rails and wire-works 

 in the v/ater-courses, of the weeds and grass, which 

 frequently stop them up. Birds that feed on fish 

 must be carefully kept out of the ponds. In a 

 great drought, provision must be made for keeping 

 the water at the same height that it commonly 

 stands at in the pond ; i. e. between four and five 

 feet. If the water stagnates and grows putrid, it 

 must be let off, and a supply of fresh water be 

 introduced from the reservoirs. If the weeds, 

 especially reed and flags, and some of the aquatic 

 grasses, over-run the pond too much, scithes fixed 



